Thousands of College Students Graduate Over the Weekend

Rhode Island is teeming with freshly minted college graduates this morning. Over the weekend, commencement ceremonies were held at all three public colleges, as well as Johnson &Wales, Roger Williams University, Bryant University, Salve Regina University and Providence College.

At Rhode Island College a flash mob formed at the end of the ceremony. Graduates from the music, theater and dance departments led the crowd of 1,400 in a special rendition of “I’ve had the Time of My Life.”

The largest of the ceremonies was at the University of Rhode Island, which conferred over 3,200 degrees. Gov. Lincoln Chafee addressed the graduates.

"As you commence the next chapter of your lively experiment, let me bring the best wishes of Rhode Islanders to you on this happy occasion," said Chafee, "and wish you lives of prosperity, fulfillment in the years to come. Congratulations, 2013. Go get ‘em."

The URI graduation ceremony was held indoors this year for security reasons.

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Actor turned Director Ben Affleck will receive a Doctor of Fine Arts during Brown University’s commencement next month. Affleck’s film Argo won best picture at the Academy Awards in February, but he was famously snubbed by the Oscar committee when it came to a best director nomination.

Brown will also confer honorary degrees on writer and MIT professor Junot Diaz and bacteriologist Stanley Falkow, along with three others. Falkow will host a forum on infectious diseases as part of commencement weekend.

Commencement speakers for 2013 are a mixed bunch. At New England Institute of Technology, quarterback turned sports analyst Terry Bradshaw will give the commencement speech on May 5th. The school is also honoring Taco, Inc. CEO John Hazen White, Jr. with an honorary doctor of humane letters, citing his leadership in the business community and his company’s commitment to education for employees.

The University of Rhode Island is moving its graduation indoors. The university said it’s for safety reasons.

URI said the recent gun scare on campus and the bombings in Boston prompted it to move the graduation ceremony into the Ryan Center. Graduating student Kelly Harris is unhappy with the move. She said students are limited to bringing two guests and that will make it harder for her friends and family to see her walk across the stage.

“This is affecting the vast majority of graduating seniors,” said Harris.

Retired professional basketball player, best-selling author and filmmaker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the keynote speaker at the New England Institute of Technology graduation ceremony yesterday (Sunday.) He told the roughly 12-hundred graduates about the things he wished he had done when he was their age.